Albuquerque pt 2: The cars

Subtitle: Death and Life of the Euro Sports Wagon.

(pronounced SpÖrts "VA-gun")

From my single previous and brief visit to New Mexico, I knew that the American South West was a good place to be a car enthusiast. I mean, this place has a junkyard pretty much devoted to Cadillacs! Imagine: a place where your large metal machines rust away over several decades, rather than the meager several years I was accustomed to. Sure, the sun will rot the interiors and the dust storms dull the paint... but who cares about that stuff?

I already have a solid mental inventory of the interesting vehicles that live around my house... There's the guy with the new Challenger and New Vette, I think he's a bit unusual here, owning two newer awesome cars and no classics. There's the guy with the Fox Body Mustang and old, minty Mazda 626, plus new Mazda 3. There's the house with the pair of matching, late 90's red Camaros (one with a trailer hitch), plus a vintage Camaro under the cover. Or at least that's what Challenger guy says- I've never seen the cover come off. Then there's the House with the two old VW Beatles, PLUS a new mini and a first gen Miata. Also there's the House with the old Ford Pick up (BRIGHT YELLOW!) and old dodge panel van, both looking about perfect. Anyway, this list goes on.

The only real problem I see with this place is the absence of jobs, or at minimum, jobs for me. I'm surrounded by old and unique cars, many for sale at discount prices and I can't afford to collect them! (Expect updates on the job situation in part 3 of this 4 part series) See, every time I venture into the streets (cyber, e.g. Craigslist, or otherwise) I'm assaulted by a litany of Fiats, Cadillacs and quirky hatchbacks that I NEED to experience. Also, there appears to be a high number of Ford SVT Raptors (think of it as a limited production baja truck) and Dodge Magnums. The Raptors make sense because, well, this is a good place to practice you baja-trucking, but I want to talk about the magnums. Dodge magnums are wagon versions of the Dodge charger/Chrysler 300 platform. (some countries received a Chrysler 300 wagon, but not us).

The magnum is a great car because its big, power, American, and wagon!. You could get it with a V6, a V8 and a BIGGER V8, the last being the SRT model. I would always see them in Detroit, but when it comes to cars, Detroit is something of a rare bird, which is why I was surprised to see so many here in Albuquerque. See the down side is, the magnum was never offered with a manual transmission, which brings me to my second point: The Death of Euro Sport Wagon.

See, the European-style Sport wagon (not to be confused with the Eurosport Wagon) is that traditionally European-made wagon, often based on a sedan platform, featuring decent power and handling and at least OFFERED with a manual transmission. The Physicist has a Euro Sport wagon; A Saab 9-5, turbo charged with a 5spd which offers the best compromise of utility and fun to drive. the problem is, the Saab in question is a 2002 model and getting a bit tired. Plus, being a Saab, it is just this side of impossible to work on. So what can replace it? The European companies (BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, Saab) are still making wagons, but the manual transmission has gone the way of formal dating and sensible shoes. Of the four mentioned, only Saab will still offer a manual wagon this year, but they can't even afford to pay their suppliers. The Magnum has long since gone out of production, making room on the platform assembly line for the new Challenger. This is the winter of my automatic transmission discontent...

And yet...

Hope springs eternal for there are new wagons to be had. Cadillac brings a wagon version of the CTS, available with a 3.6L V6 and, briefly, the manual transmission (though this combo axed next year). Also, revealed at the New Mexico Auto show (which, as far as i can tell, was attended by me and approximately 180 other people) is the new Acura TSX wagon.

It seems that Acura recently released a redesign of the sporty TSX sedan. The sedan, which IS offered with a manual trans, was then followed by a wagon version, which according to the hot Acura booth girl, will almost CERTAINLY be offered with a manual transmission in the next 9 months. {shrugs} She seemed to know what she was talking about.



TSX wagon- as luxurious and sporty as the 9-5.


Also revealed at the New Mexico Auto show, what an interior should look like:



(I wonder what they put for the fourth panel when you have a manual trans?)


Anyway, for now and with my limited resources, I'll be happy with the vehicular selection at hand. I'm not so sure the Miata is a good fit for these vast, wide open spaces, but the motorcycle seems to fit in well. they could both stand to have some forced induction added, what with the high altitude an all (which the Saab HAS!), but that's a battle for another day.




...
somebody should buy this

Albuquerque pt 1: Training

Now I live at an elevation of 6000 feet. On the other hand, my old training grounds were somewhere in the 600 ft range with elevations changes few and far between. This was not obviously a problem until I arrived in New Mexico and tried to walk. Or ride the motorcycle.

In fairness, grad school left my fitness laughable, so the disadvantage was all mine. Perhaps accounting for this, the cosmic forces chose to relocate me to a great mecca of fitness, with bikers, hikers and yoggers all around. And more importantly, geographically interesting and diverse challenges upon which to bike, hike and yog. Of course "geographically interesting" means "elevation changes." Big 'ems. Now that I've had a couple weeks to hike around and acquaint my calves with the steepness of this place, it was time to get back to running.

Today's run went some thing like this: First, we live on a hill. So upon entering the street, one can run up or down the hill. Unfortunately down doesn't lead anywhere you might particularly want to run to. Plus, there are amazing, mountainous trails that start just 3/4 of a mile away. So you (I) start by venturing up the hill. This is my second attempt at jogging here and last time i made the mistake of running right off, as I would in, say, Ohio. This made me quite useless once I'd reached the trails, so I start today by walking up the hill.

Shortly there is a cross street that travels along the mountain, rather than towards or away from it, so this street is relatively flat. It's the only street I know of in the area that behaves as such, and this is where I begin my run. I'm at almost exactly 6000 feet above sea level and I want to ease my body into the suffering, starting with a flat surface. But soon, another cross street and I turn again, up hill, towards the mountain. This is the road to the trail head, about half a mile up. This is also where the locals with their hiking canes and $5k mountain bikes part their (old school) VW Beetles and (new school) 350Z's. I'm already feeling the uphill/high altitude punch, but I need to maintain the facade at least long enough to pass by these well-tanned, well-to-dos, and make it fully off the pavement.

I've been jogging for near half a mile and it's been a while since I've looked up... But now I'm running in gravely. Noting the change, i look up and see the geography ahead now fills my field view. Some the left extreme to the right and most of the way up, is the mountain. It is the type of grandeur that cannot be captured in a photograph, but It looks something like this: the base (except closer, and bigger)

Now that I've arrived at the mountain, all trails will be, well, up hill. Exhausted, now I take a walking break. As I slow down i realize i have a headache and my calf muscles are burning. And walking up hill is putting extra stress on my knee caps. either way, i continue around the gradual, back path behind Nipple Hill. I don't think that's is the official name, but it is what we know it as. Walking, walking, walking... Finally i reach the crest hind Nipple Hill, meaning a down hill stint and back towards the trail head... TIME TO RUN! (This time is also called "why does it hurt do much when i breath?) Either way running down the hill feels like a breeze, but that might be the 30mph spring time wind, which seems to always be fighting my progress. Now i just need to make sure my feet move fast enough to keep my down hill jog from turning into a down hill stumble.

At this point i like to black out for a while, until I near the house. If I time things right (which i never do) I could arrive right in time to catch the Albuquerque Sun set over the city, as seen from our street. It looks something like (but not quite as good as) this:

still working on a post with substance